Creating a virtual window using Tasker and local web cams

Looking out the window is often the best weather forecast system you can have. You might not always be near a window though, or the window might not have the view you need, or it might not point in the direction you need. Because of this, I decided to include a virtual window in my pop-up settings box, thus allowing me to “look out the window” near home whenever I need.

The concept is very simple. Locally, there are several public web cams that post static images online. These images have the same address all the time, and the software simply overwrites the image whenever a new one is taken. I found three suitable ones near me, each pointing in a different direction, and one that had water in the picture so that it’s easy to see rain and wind. I then created a Tasker task that saves these images locally, which is a very simply thing to do using Tasker’s HTTP Get feature since the images always have the same URL. Then, I created a Scene (custom UI) that displayed these images, and that closes (destroys) the scene when one of the images is clicked. Finally, I linked the task to a button in my pop-up settings menu.

This is one of the simplest Tasker profiles I’ve posted about, but it works just like I want it to. It gives me a button that, when clicked, pulls the three images to the device and displays them on the screen. This allows me to quickly “look around” the area where I live, regardless of whether I’m a county or two over or down in some cellar. Simple, yet effective.

As always, if anyone wants to reproduce this and have any questions, fire away.

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About the Author

Andreas Ødegård was an associate editor at Pocketables. He’s more interested in aftermarket (and user created) software and hardware than chasing the latest gadgets and tends to stick with his choice of device for a long time as a result of that. Currently that includes an iPad mini and a Samsung Galaxy S II.